character houses for sale near bar-sur-aube in france

A large, luxurious home and its old dairy, with more than a hectare of land, in the Champagne region

Bar-sur-Aube, AUBEchampagne-ardennes10200FR

Champagne-Ardenne

Location

On the southernmost part of the Champagne vineyards, a land of streams and rivers with dense, undulating forests.
2½ hours from Paris via the excellent A5 motorway, 50 km from Troyes, with its half-timbered houses from the Renaissance period and its factory outlets.
Ten minutes from Bar-sur-Aube, a medieval town which, in the Middle-Ages, was one of the four towns where Champagne fairs were held. Within easy reach of Orient Forest Nature Park and its three lakes, 5,000 hectares of still water in unspoilt natural surroundings. This detached property, on the outskirts of a village, stands out courtesy of its large wooded parklands.

Description

This property was, originally, an old wine trading warehouse which, with its large, luxurious home, was constructed around 1850.
Purchased in 1920 by a Parisian, trained in dairy farming, it was transformed into a dairy, producing milk and cheese, when this new industry first began. The new owner, a lover of horses, quite naturally based the architecture on that of horse stud farms when renovating the farm buildings. At the front on the road side is a U-shaped courtyard, with the residence set back at the end, like a mansion house. It is bordered on each side by the wings, comprising the outbuildings, and closed by gates.
The farm buildings were intended for the production of cream, butter and cheeses such as coulommier, brie, gruyere and others. As with all dairies at that time, the by-products were used for fattening the pigs that were raised on site. On either side of the residence, the dairy and the pigsty have their own entrances, making it possible to distinguish between the private and the industrial sections. At the back, near an enclosed garden, the owner purchased further plots of land spanning more than 13,000 m². Then, as he had learnt at school, he created several separate gardens on successive terraced areas. These included a leisure garden, a vegetable garden, an orchard and wooded parklands with woods as a backdrop.

The house

This house has the characteristics of the large, luxury homes of the 19th century.
The classical facade has three bays on two levels, with a third level forming the second floor under the high attic roof. Large and small-paned, inward-opening windows as well as bull’s eye windows extend over the facades. The hip roof, comprising sprockets, is covered with flat tiles and features a stone overhanging cornice and two large brick chimney stacks. The top floor is illuminated via roof dormers and skylights.

Ground floor
The ground floor, reached from the large courtyard via two stone steps, is accessed via double glazed doors, followed by an interior lobby, filtering the cold in winter. A vast, central vestibule provides access to the stairway and to the various rooms, including a lounge, a dining room, a kitchen, a study and a shower room with a toilet. Lower sections, wall panelling, cornices, moulding, panelled doors, marble fireplaces and built-in wall cupboards clearly demonstrate the Haussmannian decor of the time. The rooms feature cement floor tiles of the type that first appeared in 1857 and which are once again in fashion. The old kitchen, now a lounge, has red and cream floor tiles laid in a chessboard pattern which are currently carpeted. Only the dining room has oak wood parquet flooring laid in a randomly matched pattern. The partition walls in the kitchen and the shower room are partially covered with ceramic tiles featuring inlaid decoration. The lounge and dining room are steeped in light, with views of the parklands and the wood at the end. Double French windows open on to the terrace and the gardens. The superb oak wood stairway, with turned railings, balusters and handrail, leads upstairs. An interior door, next to the stairway, opens into a laundry-boiler room, leading in turn to an annex pavilion.First floor
A vast, central landing predominantly provides access to four bedrooms and the stairway. There is oak wood parquet flooring throughout. Just like a reception floor, its ceilings are higher than those on the ground floor.
A very large, double bedroom, on the garden side, was originally a lounge, with tall windows. Its decor and marble fireplace are identical to those in the dining room below.
It is adjoined by a small communicating bedroom which also opens on to the landing. A double aspect bedroom, facing the courtyard and the garden, has a built-in cupboard and a marble fireplace. Also looking out over the courtyard, there is a shower room with a toilet, on one side, and a bedroom, with a marble fireplace and a wash-hand basin concealed in a vast cupboard, on the other. The oak wood stairway, illuminated from above via a glass roof, goes up to the second floor, where some of the rooms have sloping ceilings.

Second floor
A little landing and a corridor provide access to three bedrooms.
The main bedroom, with a sloping ceiling and a roof dormer, is flanked on either side by two small bedrooms, illuminated via small skylights.
A little storage room and an attic are under a high roofing framework.
This level has not been lived in for a long time and is in need of full renovation works.

The pavilion

Adjoining the main house and set at right angles on the parklands side, this delightful small, square, 2-storey building has three facades. Its hip roof is covered with flat tiles.
Its ground floor communicates via an interior door with the laundry-boiler room. The dairy’s old salting room, with its tiled floor, is now a storage room for garden furniture.
The upstairs is reached via an outside brick stairway.
A large bedroom, with a wash-hand basin, oak wood parquet flooring and floor-to-ceiling panelling, overlooks the parklands.

The outbuildings

The outbuildings, flanking the courtyard, are laid out at right angles to the street.
On the right-hand side of the house is the old dairy, spanning approx. 200 m².
It comprises two vast rooms with, for the first, tiled tables for the making of brie cheeses, the second, without the copper vats that are no longer in existence, was used for making gruyere cheeses.
These rooms are illuminated by small, basket-handle arched, opening windows.
Above are large successive attics.
Two 28 m² garages stand, facing the dairy, on the left-hand side of the house. Next to them are three vast brick buildings, spanning approx. 350 m². Their architecture is in keeping with that of the dairy.
Each building is laid out with a central corridor providing access on either side to the pigsties.
The whey, used for feeding purposes, came directly from the dairy. It was mixed with flour, which was stored in sacs upstairs in the first building.

Our opinion

The vast wooded grounds bestow this property, on the outskirts of a village, with great independence, space, light as well as peace and quiet.
The large, luxurious home can be lived in straightaway.
It still has its original architectural features, that superb patina of old family residences and is steeped in light via the numerous openings that let in the fragrances from a flower-filled garden.
Not having been lived in for several years, it is a shame that the flame-coloured Virginia creeper that once covered its facades has been eradicated obviously for ease of upkeep.
The buildings have a superb decorative coherence, with openings reminiscent of the national horse stud farms, like the one nearby in Montier-en-Der.
They could be transformed and used for an arts & crafts activity, as an artist’s studio, for a holiday accommodation unit or bed & breakfast activity or even as a restaurant.

NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.

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